BEIJING – China’s middle-class is expanding at a fast pace, and with it grows the basin of consumers who can effectively be reached by advertising campaigns. A recent article authored by Marisa Planess Valerio, a foreign attorney affiliated within Lehman, Lee & Xu, titled Advertising to Chinese Children, and published in Young Consumers (vol. 10, no. 2, 2009, p. 170-74), analyses the current Chinese advertising environment with a focus on the market for advertising to children – roughly 274 million “under-
These “Little Emperors” with “One Mouth, Six Pockets” – as they are defined in the article – “receive virtually anything they want”. Their middle-class parents believe that “investing their income in the future of their children is the most intelligent and noble mission” and as such “they never deprive them of all the toys, sweets and brand clothes they like”.
An understanding of the regulations governing the field – essentially, the 1987 Administration of Advertising Regulations and its Implementing Rules, recently amended in 2005, and the 2002 Administration for Internet Publishing Tentative Provisions – which have to be interpreted in connection with laws on the protection of minors and children, are essential for businesses to effectively take advantage of advertising as a mean to boost sales.
Lehman, Lee & Xu, China member of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) – an international association of advertising lawyers – maintains a dedicated practice group in media and advertising law and has advised many major corporations from the Western world with compliance issues regarding entry into the China market and promoting products in China.
